producer: stowaways, deftone

How many ways are there to prove someone one's love? You can just repeat "I love you" 1000 times, you can send flowers, take your clothes of… But to stand one's ground between several rivals, which one will be the most effective? Stowaways choose to take the game seriously, they come with bare hands and still have a lot to give. No Punch-and-Judy, no singing in the rain, respect and honesty is the formula; and no fear of letting one's own vulnerability shine through. If you believe (American) black music has taken a wrong turning at the last crossroad, if you're desperately searching for some original elements of hip hop culture between crissy, thongs and wack mcs, you might be ready for brainfood à la stowaways; so let's strike the gong. Dinner is served.

In "The Chicago Way" Darvis White aka Layman and Allen Johnson aka Overflo take us home to their creative centre. Simple beat, simply battle rhyming so that after four minutes and something it should be clear: "the chicago way, the only way to get by…" "Science" and "Understand" are like starters as they are served in expensive restaurants: it looks nice in color and arrangement but makes you wonder, after the plates have been taken away, if there really was anything on the plate. While you still consider if it had been spring rolls or either carved vegetables, the main meal will be served.

"Black Letter" tells the story of Able and Cain. Able stands for Hip Hop, Cain for black people. We might argue if this is a suitable comparison - it doesn't matter that much as pieces fit in this song, regarding musicality as well as rhymes and flow. Next course. As for the lyrics, "John Doe" is definitely worth being discussed. It's a spoken word track, telling the story of someone who wakes up one morning and finds out that his friends doesn't know him anymore. With pleasure, we let rhymes melt in our mouth, while John will "head home hopelessly" questioning his identity. On "Cry", stowaways spit rhymes like spices in our meal. Flow-wise this track is fresh and flavourful. With angel choirs, giving us a taste of apocalypse, it's about two MCs who have to prove their skills in rhyming before God to be allowed into heaven. To prove skills will be the hinge in "Suicide" then: When it comes to battle rhyming, Stowaways advise you to commit suicide before you tangle with them. This track rocks and it got more pace than the others.

With "Soup Kitchen" a rather tasteless dish will be served. To keep you seated: first, other highlights are yet to come, second, consciousness is still calling the tune. "Cursed" is a song about slavery in past and today and -again- black identity: "our history has been erased/can you tell us who we are/make us feel love and explain our scars/nobody hates black people more than they hate themselves…" and later: "we not african but ashamed to call ourselves americans/the mutated victims of the great experiment." After this heavy meal we take another glass of wine.

In the understated "Chess Game", there's only: 1 trumpet blowing 1 tone and 1 abstract beat to underline another tale. This time, a chess game without a king is used as a metaphor for a childhood (or life) without a father. Content-wise interesting but probably too piercing for trumpet-nonlikers. Finally, after another "who-we-are-and-why-we-do-this" ("Statue Of Lyricy" and an interlude) it's about time to get back to the table. The delicious dessert will be served. Had there been any muddle, not enough homogeneity or roundness at some points up to now, all we might have missed comes with "Unchained Melody". No edges, no lumps, no awkwardness; just smoothie, butter, whatever you want. And we get everyone around the table nod their heads. Put your silver-spoons in the air! Layman and Overflo explain why they love hip hop and what it represents to them, using H.I.P.H.O.P in each line. There's no use in quoting one or two lines because "Unchained Melody" forms an integrated whole; a model-declaration of love as it were.

After that, there's not too much to come. "Until…" (instrumentals are a question of taste…) will not make it out of unchained melody's shadow. The hidden track is worth being mentioned: a parody of those mc's, singers, dancers who get into music business just because of their cousins, sisters, neighbours -and still be convinced they've done it all alone. Finally, this track brings us a glimpse of enlightenment and we smile again, dab our teardrops with the ends of the tablecloth and drop the plan to lay down some flowers at hip hop's grave.

Though this album is not exactly what you might bring along to celebrate your best friends birthday - at some points the artists take it rather too seriously- it's a remarkable attempt to bring hip hop its brain, culture and substance back. And if you have time to sit down and listen, you won't leave the table hungrily. We got tracks ("Lyrics", "Soup Kitchen", "Memory Verse", "Statue Of Lyricy") which are rather unspectacular, or lets say kept simple and every now and then we could ask for improvement in music and production. Like several colourful flowers don't make a nice bouquet, it's not worth choosing interesting samples if pieces don't really fit (with "Black Letter", "Suicide" and -of course- "Unchained Melody" being the exceptions). On the other hand, their persistence in not using washed out soul samples or ordinary party grooves is certainly to be acknowledged (we all agree, world had enough of that rhyme-hook-rhyme-hook for a while).

For a last (just in case, I haven't made myself clear enough), we should give Stowaways our credits for them saying: "It's not all about the money, females, and materialism. For us, we do it for the love." Word.